In composing and recording music, various types and sequences of rhythms and beats provide a beat for the music. Often, drums or other percussion instruments are used for this purpose. Electronic instruments having synthesizers have been used to generate drum beats. However, it is difficult to synthesize all of the types of beats and rhythmic sequences that are needed for a wide variety of musical compositions. Furthermore, there are frequently problems with achieving realistic sounds using synthesizers.
Some efforts have been made to record and play back actual drum beats and drum beat sequences for various uses. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,075,197 (Chan), electrical sensors are attached to a plurality of drum plates for playing back recorded percussion sounds in response to and synchronized with a user beating on the drum plates. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,319 (Linn), a single drum beat is recorded and then played back by a plurality of modular drum generators to provide desired percussion rhythms.
Other products in the marketplace provide various drum sequences without much organization or continuity. Even with a stored data bank of recorded drum beats and other percussion sequences, it is often difficult to find and identify appropriate combinations of drum and other percussion sequences to be used in or for a musical composition. In addition, numerous embellishments and variations in drum sequences are desirable to achieve a realistic performance in a recorded song or production. Consequently, drum loops, as stored in existing tools, are difficult to piece together in a way that provides a smooth and continuous flow for song composition and music production. Furthermore, a finished, polished drum sound is difficult to achieve by patching together various drum beat segments that have been separately recorded.
Accordingly, there is a need for a wide variety of live drum performance sequences and loops that are easily accessible and that are organized and named so composers can easily select desired rhythms and sequences for each musical composition. Moreover, there is a need for a wide variety of embellishments and variations on selected drum loops to achieve a realistic drum performance accompanying various musical compositions.